#cat antics

Marinette stepped back, clearly affronted. "Of course it is. That's Plagg. He's the first cat."

"I am well-educated in the breeds and colors of cats from all around the world, and I can assure you that is not a cat."

She rolled her eyes at him. Damian struggled not to be offended as she dismissed the clear danger with all the grace of a teenager annoyed with her parents. "Then your education has a hole in it. Plagg is the cattiest cat to ever cat."

Damien sighed, and the prickle of danger at the back of his neck subsided ever so slightly… he couldn't stop a smile at her response. "Tt. That is not a thing."

The smooth, black blob with enormous acid green eyes that could not be a cat zipped off the cat tree where it had been eying him condescendingly. It didn't leap or run, though.

It flew.

It arced through the air right into his face, where it stopped, hovering, only inches away. It took more effort than he would be comfortable admitting to hold his ground.

Then it did something worse than flying.

It spoke.

"I am the first Cat. The reason cats have ever been and continue to be. The poor wretches whom the pharaohs honored don't know what divinity is. I am not only a cat, I am The Cat. God of Destruction and Kitten of Chaos."

Damian shifted slightly. "That you are a divine being capable of destruction is more believable than you being a cat."

The Cat grinned. "What do you think cats are, kid?"

Damian looked past the Cat to Marinette, though taking his eyes off the Cat made him nervous. "May I ask what is going on here?"

Marinette had skirted past her counter and moved within reach. His heart sped up, as it always did when she was near or did something unexpected. She was holding a ring.

Damian's mouth went dry.

He wasn't just a customer. They had become… friends over time. But most of their time together had been spent within the confines of the café. Damian spent a considerable amount of time there.

But he had imagined a variety of scenarios with the pretty, innocent young woman. Kissing her to silence her rambling thoughts, asking her out for dinner. Spilling all his secrets and still being found worthy… finding out how far her freckles went. Some of those imaginings had involved a ring.

"What are you proposing, Marinette?"

Her eyes widened briefly, her breathing speeding up. "No! No. I mean, I'm not. Plagg is proposing. That is to say…why am I so bad at this?! He chose you."

Damian glanced between the Cat and Marinette.

"Tt." Other than the potential danger, Damian was far more interested in the woman than the Cat. "I think I would have preferred my first assumption to be true."

The Cat began laughing—rolling over and over in the air while it cackled. He was not entirely unlike his friend Jon, who tended to both float and find him amusing at strange and unexpected moments.

"Told you, Pigtails."

Marinette's jaw dropped, the ring clenched behind a tight, white fist. If it were possible to screech and whisper at the same time, she managed it. "Wait, what?!"

With a glower at the Cat, Damian stepped closer, his eyes sticking briefly on the thrum of her pulse at her throat. The thought that his proximity affected her heart rate was not an unwelcome one. "I have enjoyed each of our interactions. Your conversation, while somewhat exuberant, is pleasant and honest. I find you attractive. Beautiful, even. I would imagine that a marriage relationship with you would be… pleasing."

Marinette all but short-circuited. Plagg had identified Damian as his holder the first time the young man had come into the café, spending more time with the animals than any of her other customers. She had made him wait. Because Plagg's power was too great for mistakes to be made, and because Damian had seemed too good to be true.

*****

"You're supposed to feel drawn to him." Plagg insisted after Damian's fifth visit. "The Ladybug and Cat are always connected; no matter what kind of relationship they choose, the connection will be real and deep. Besides, the kid might like cats, but it's you he keeps coming back for."

"That's ridiculous! He's just an animal lover."

Surprisingly, Tikki's opinion had echoed Plagg's. "Plagg might be stinky, but he's right this time, Marinette. That boy only comes when you're working… even when you trade shifts."

"He does?" Marinette had been shocked. Sure, it seemed like he came around a lot, but most of his visits were as predictable as her regular schedule—

"Oh." The idea that Damian might be as interested in her as she was in him was an odd thought. He was too good-looking and too kind to animals for her not to have fallen for him during his lengthy visits.

Tikki was looking at her with a mix of sympathy and amusement, but Plagg was simply impatient.

"Yes, yes. All you humans are ridiculous and filled with hormones. He likes you, you like him. What I want is my holder and a good supply of cheese. So either hand me over soon, or I'll take matters into my own paws."

*****

"Marriage?" It was all she could get out, even with Plagg's ring digging into her palm. Pain usually helped her focus, but it seemed that her thoughts had scattered too far.

"Tt. Until a few moments ago, I would have said I knew everything I needed to know about you before entering into a romantic relationship, but—" He glanced at Plagg, still floating inches from his head with a shit-eating grin spread across his smug little face. "—Perhaps we could start with dinner. If only to discuss the Cat."

Plagg bristled. "What you two get up to doesn't matter to me at all; in fact, I don't want to hear or see any of it, but I am not a thing to be discussed. You're meant to wear my ring, and you will."

Damian frowned. "To what end?"

Marinette sighed before turning the lock and flipping the welcome sign to "CLOSED".

"C'mon up. I live above the building. I can tell you about Plagg, and then, if you still want to, we can talk about dinner… and whatever else you had in mind."

She felt her cheeks flush pink when Damian eyed her slowly, appreciatively, before clearing his throat and meeting her eyes. "Let's start with dinner, lest I suggest something inappropriate."

Her breath caught in her chest. "Oh."

Apparently, it was a day for revelations.